It is as if only irony alone can bring some cheer to these bleak times. The most feted millionaire today in India and elsewhere is a slumdog. Maybe, as in the movie, only wit and perseverance can keep you on top of the game at a time when the lights are going out all over the highest shrines of capitalism.

In the gathering darkness, desperate invocations have a socialist resonance. And suddenly, the cold breeze of mortality is wafting across the pinstriped republic of plutocrats, that sovereign state within the state that looked infallible till the other day.

The unthinkable is upon us. The masters of the universe have feet of clay. Still, despite all the news of Apocalypse Tomorrow, let’s not be fooled. The traditional relationship between wealth and power remains intact.

The front row of the power elite— the Establishment—is reserved for people who know how to create wealth and play with it, no matter even if they are poorer by a few billions in the wake of the economic downturn.

The sweep of their power, though, is not directly proportional to the size of their wealth; and that is why the richest is not necessarily the most powerful.

Power is all about the ideas and attitude of the one who wields it. The business class that still dominates the Higher Circle tells more than a story of survival; it essays the boldness and ingenuity of a few who still make a difference to the lives of the rest—for better or worse.

Today, in the age of bail-outs and stimulus plans, they may have realised the uses of governments but their power is not subordinate to the rulers of the day. That said, the India Today Power List 2009 shows a shift in hierarchy, a shift that reflects an India where the money is matched by the mind.

India is the stage on which some of the most exuberant shows on earth are mounted. India is the page on which some of the finest words are written.

And we won’t be surprised if Jai Ho becomes a global ring tone. Call it the reach of India’s soft power. As the bad news from the free market multiplies, there is at least something to be happy about: the cultural capital is not melting down.

And this list, though mostly populated by the usual suspects of moguls and mavens, is a celebration of India’s creative brio as well.

The classical architecture of the Establishment—built on the triangular structure of government, the military, and business—hardly exists in democracies. Usurpers and innovators continue to shatter its cosy equilibrium. The rustle of the following pages carries the power of the few whose privilege may be exclusive but not eternal.

1. RATAN TATA, 71, INDUSTRIALISTNEVER SAY DIE

Ratan Tata

Because in India’s hour of terror, he acted more statesmanlike than any politician.

Because he spoke for the nation in every crisis, whether at Singur or when The Taj was being attacked in Mumbai, personifying India’s fighting spirit by ensuring the hotel reopened within a month.

Because he embodies ethical entrepreneurship even when being challenged with dire circumstances and notwithstanding Mamata Banerjee’s opposition, will roll out the Nano at the promised price this year.

Because despite the recession, his group’s turnover will touch $100 billion this year, and he has not yielded to pessimism, whether on Corus or on the Jaguar Land Rover deal.

The big number: A valuation of $10 billion for the telecom business when the Japanese major DoCoMo paid $2.7 billion for a 26 per cent stake.

Quotable quote: “Some Ms are good and some are bad.”

Y2K: Most of the cars that he drives have the number 2000.

Hot wheels: A Metallic Blue Maserati.

Is known to: Take the controls of his private jets.

2. MUKESH AMBANI, 51, INDUSTRIALIST WEALTH CREATOR

Because he did not succumb to either corporate fad or government pressure, staying away from investing in overseas acquisitions and sticking to building greenfield assets that deliver 20 per cent returns on investment.

Mukesh Ambani

Because RIL is likely to end the year with a growth of over 20 per cent with income rising to over Rs 1,60,000 crore from Rs 1,39,269 crore last year, and at a time when everyone is strapped for money, he is swimming in nearly Rs 30,000 crore of cash.

Agenda 2009: Supporting wife Nita in her quest to help Mumbai Indians win IPL Season 2 and shifting into their new home on Altamount Road before the new year.

Is proud that: Low cost gas from KG-D6 will bring down subsidies on power, fertiliser and LPG costs, therefore the fiscal deficit.

Current obsession: Preparing twins Akash and Isha who are leaving to study in the US.

Power moment: First Indian to meet US President Barack Obama within a month of his taking office.

He believes: His dream of farm-tofork revolution will happen next.

3. ANIL AMBANI, 48, INDUSTRIALIST MR Big

Anil Ambani

Because he is Mr Big in every segment he has a presence in, from power to entertainment, from roads to coalfields.

Because his influence across the country’s political spectrum is unmatched and he bagged three big ticket power projects even with an unfriendly government.

Because by 2015, he could be the biggest infrastructure player in India.

Because he is setting up 32,000 MW of generating capacity, building 500 km of roads, the Delhi Airport Express Metro line as well as the Mumbai Metro project.

Because even as many are downsizing, he will be adding 16,000 employees this year.

Because his tie-up with Steven Spielberg and movie production alliances with Hollywood stars from George Clooney to Nicolas Cage make him a formidable name on the entertainment marquee.

Idea of a binge: Kesar pista ice cream on Wednesday nights at India Gate on the way to the airport to fly back to Mumbai on his Global Express.

Image makeover: Has now switched from flashy Armani to conservative suits.

Is proud about: The 700-bed super specialty hospital which has been set up by wife Tina.

Is happy about: Having improved his mileage. He now runs 18 km every day.

4. SUNIL MITTAL, 51, INDUSTRIALIST RING KING

Sunil Mittal

Because in a business where he is competing with Tata, Birla, Ambani and Vodafone, he is the biggest, and in an era of gloom, has proved to be an island of boom.

Because given the lead of 25 million, even if Airtel stood still, it would take the nearest competitor nearly 12 months to catch up.

Because with annualised revenues of Rs 38,000 crore for 2008-09 and profit before tax of Rs 15,000 crore, Airtel is among the most efficient money machines and by 2013, Bharti will be a trillion-rupee group.

Because he is engaged in the transformation of telecom into a lifestyle business, ranging from calls to games, from movies to music, making a big play for the Indian mind-share with Bharti Airtel Triple Play, Telephone, Broadband and TV, on a single line.

Because Best Price, his tie-up with Walmart, will take off by June. Because without doubt, he is the face of the new Indian entrepreneur.

Little known fact: Airtel has over one million outlets and recharge stores.Is looking forward to: His daughter Eiesha’s wedding this summer.Fitness is: Walking for an hour in Lodhi Gardens.Music means: Ghazals by Jagjit Singh.

5. SHAH RUKH KHAN, 43, ACTOR YES HE KHAN

Because he is everywhere, at once, as a movie actor, cricket team owner, television producer, sometime television host and ambassador of 10 brands, who was the most visible celebrity on TV in 2008.

Shah Rukh Khan

Because everything he does makes headline news, from a tiff with Salman Khan to a patch-up with Amitabh Bachchan and his film, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, almost salvaged a studio, Yash Raj Films.

Because he is emerging as a spokesman for Islam at a time when the religion is under global attack and though Pepsi may have dropped him as their brand ambassador, young people see him as a Bollywood outsider who made it to the top through sheer grit.

Because whether it is anchoring a film awards night or promoting his movie in a reality show, he can be counted on to perform.

Funniest thing anyone ever said to him: Nice try, sir. An SMS from someone after one of his movies.

Biggest joy: Sleeping in bed between his children Aryan and Suhana and constantly being kicked by them. And watching them ski in Austria.

Because in a year when the economy is in a state of shock, the group is set to double its revenues from last year and with new businesses, expansion in steel as also the refinery going on-stream, their revenues will touch a trillion rupees by 2011.

Because while other companies are talking about shelving plans, the brothers are investing over Rs 15,000 crore in steel alone, taking their production capacity to 14 metric tonnes per annum, and pledging over half-a-billion dollars to telecom operations in Africa.

Because their businesses span sectors, from 1,500 gas stations through which they will retail petroleum products across India to Aegis, their BPO operations with 35,000 employees.

Recession mantra: Keep your head down, believe in yourself and your people during tough times.

Little known fact: With 10,000 employees in the US, Essar Group is the largest Indian employer there.

Smart strategy: With a majority of group companies privatelyheld, the Ruias are insulated from the vagaries of the stock market.

Because his support to the government makes it compliant to his demands and the moment he criticised the then finance minister P. Chidambaram for inflation and Petroleum Minister Murli Deora for his ‘anti-people’ (read anti-Anil Ambani) policies, the media assumed there would be a reshuffle.

Because when the Congress dithered over seat sharing in Uttar Pradesh, he worked out a political realignment with Sharad Pawar over dinner that brought the Congress to the negotiating table.

Exchange programme: Substituted Prakash Karat for the Gandhis as his new best friends. Says he sees “a ray of hope” in Sonia and Rahul.

The rethink: “I have already said that 1999 was a mistake,” he says, explaining Samajwadi Party’s decision not to support a Congress government at the Centre then.

And finally: Has stopped wearing his 10-carat diamond ring because “people said I was wearing it for my Venus angle but the real reason is that my wife gave it to me”.

8. SAMIR & VINEET JAIN, 54 and 42, MEDIA BARONS NEWS WORTHIES

Samir & Vineet Jain

Because not only do they have the largest selling English language daily in the country at 32 lakh copies a day, and the largest English language financial daily selling seven lakh copies every day, but also their television news channel has become the highest rated in that genre.

Because they are the largest private players in radio, with 32 stations across India, to which they have added a foreign acquisition, Virgin Radio, as well.

Because they are the only ones brave enough to launch a business channel slam bang in the middle of a recession.

Because with cash reserves of Rs 3,400 crore, they are best equipped to ride the economic storm.

The big divide: The Vice-Chairman now looks after print and the Managing Director after everything else.

Big change: Mother Indu Jain no longer visits the office.

The big acquisition: Of the soon-to-be-husband of back-from-Stanford daughter Trishala who has been ensconced in the fourth floor of Times House.

Facing the axe: The Times of India’s edit page.

9. KUMAR MANGALAM BIRLA, 41, INDUSTRIALIST HEIR RISING

Because despite the economic downturn, the consolidated revenues of the Aditya Birla Group are still $28 billion and he has a footprint that straddles 25 countries.

Kumar Mangalam Birla

Because his companies have attained global leadership and are among the world’s most costefficient copper and aluminum producers.

Because a year of quiet consolidation has seen the Group’s retail operations touch 615 supermarkets and two hypermarkets.

Because thanks to a new will by grandfather B.K. Birla, a large part of the Rs 5,000-crore empire will be inherited by him.

Recession mantra: Consistent cost management is holding the group in good stead today.

Road ahead: Wants to make the Aditya Birla Group a part of the Fortune 150 club by 2014.

10. G.M. RAO, 58, INDUSTRIALIST MASTER OF ALL TRADES

G.M. Rao

Because he is steering the makeover of the eponymous GMR Group from a domestic player in the infrastructure business to a global player with apresence in seven countries.

Because with the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, completed in a record 30 months in March last year, he proved India can have world class facilities.

Because even as the Group builds the new terminal at the Delhi airport, it has ensured an enduring connect with the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL contest.

Big buy: Acquisition of 50 per cent stake in Intergen, a leading global power generation company, at a cost of approximately $1 billion, making the Group the largest private power generation company in India.

Little known fact: A mechanical engineer by training, he was employed in the Public Works Department of Andhra Pradesh before he resigned to turn a jute trader.

Should be embarrassed about: The foray into insurance, creating ING Vysya and finally pulling out of it.

11. A.R. RAHMAN, 43, MUSIC DIRECTOR THE MAESTRO

A.R. Rahman

Because his recently-acquired hardware underlines India’s growing soft power and his twin Oscar wins have made him the country’s golden boy.

Because he is every international artist’s first choice for collaboration in India, whether it is Kylie Minogue or Akon.

Because he is an amazing amalgam of Indian multiculturalism: born a Hindu, he converted to Islam at his mother’s behest and gave his first public performance in a church as an 11-year-old.

Because his music, a blend of raga and reggae, jazz and hip-hop, has opened the world’s eyes to the dazzling possibilities of Indian film sound.

Time out: None. While the rest of the world is celebrating his win, he has got back to work, completing his pending projects in India for “furious directors”.

Loves to: Surf the Internet on his MacBook and ensures that everyone in his team uses the same too.

First stop anywhere: Mosque and then an electronics shop. Currently devoted to the Continuum fingerboard.

12. ANAND MAHINDRA, 52, INDUSTRIALIST MADE IN BHARAT

Anand Mahindra

Because by launching the Xylo, a multi-utility vehicle, at the gloomiest point for the automobile industry, he has displayed entrepreneurial courage.

Because with market leadership in tractors, utility vehicles, farm equipment, a finance company that lends to rural households, an SEZ and a realty division, he is all set to bring Bharat back to India.

Because his joint venture with BAE Systems sets him up to be one of the biggest players in India’s emerging defence sector.

Because he is one of the most articulate Indian voices at various international fora, from Aspen to Davos.

Is proud that: Mahindra Realty is a debt-free company. And that one in two tractors in the country carries the Mahindra badge.

Little known fact: The 155 mm howitzer, known to Indians as the Bofors gun, is now in the Mahindra-BAE stable.

13. AZIM HASHAM PREMJI, 62, BUSINESSMAN THE FRUGAL BILLIONAIRE

Because he steers India’s No. 3 software services exporter without worrying about the high volatility of the IT industry.

Azim Hasham Premji

Because with a cash chest of $500 million, he is looking for acquisitions abroad and plans to beef up his company’s position in France and Germany.

Because in keeping with deep personal values of corporate governance, he approached the Madras High Court to stop the proposed reverse merger between Subhiksha and Blue Green Constructions and Investments, even though his investment firm, PremjiInvest, had bought a 10 per cent stake in the retail chain from ICICI Ventures for around $150 million last year.

Management mantra: When you over-pay people based on their results, it can generate very distorted behaviours.

Little known fact: He fulfilled his teenage wish, 33 years on, by completing his electrical engineering at Stanford, in 1999.

14. DEEPAK PAREKH, 64,BANKER MR SOLUTION

Deepak Parekh

Because he is the go-to guy for government and business, whether it is Satyam or the troubled US-64.

Because in a year of edifices turning to dust, HDFC will close with an estimated growth of 19 per cent.

Because he brings credibility to whatever he does, whether it is putting the nuts and bolts of the new pension policy in place or advising the Government on providing affordable housing to the masses in the country.

Because the rumour is that he knows someone on a first name basis on the board of every Fortune 500 company.

Recession mantra: Be cautious and conservative in such times. Don’t focus on market share, instead concentrate on the bottom line.

Road Ahead: Officially it’s his last year in office and July onwards he’ll be busy planning his exit from the company.

Favourite getaways: London and New York, where he enjoys a game of cricket or tennis during the season.

15. RAGHAV BAHL, 49, MEDIA BARON THE COLORS OF MONEY

Raghav Bahl

Because from measuring the heartbeat of the Bombay Stock Exchange, his network now increases the pulse rate of prime time viewers, with his new channel Colors within striking distance of the nine-year-long No. 1, Star Plus.Because three of the biggest hits of last year, Singh is Kinng, Golmaal Returns and Ghajini, were owned or distributed by The Indian Film Company.

Because while his two business channels continue to dominate their spaces, he is expanding into new media, with Homeshopping18 a Rs 200-crore property in its second year, and in.com becoming the second largest Indian general interest portal within six months of its launch.

The big discovery: That he likes watching soaps, especially of his own channel. “Balika Vadhu for sure, and occasionally, Jaane Kya Baat Hui, Uttaran and Jeevan Saathi”.

Wish he could have: Kept some extra cash to buy media assets which are currently available at such mouth-watering discounts.

16. AAMIR KHAN, 43, ACTORIN HIS OWN LEAGUE

Aamir Khan

BecauseJaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, which he produced, and Ghajini, which he starred in, were two of the biggest hits of last year, grossing over Rs 350 crore at the box office.

Because he is the Establishment’s first choice, be it endorsing the Ministry of Tourism’s Incredible India campaign or lecturing at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy of Administration in Mussoorie.

Because he is the face of six brands—his last deal with Tata Sky wrapped at Rs 14 crore a year.

Because he acquired the best body in Khandom and made the eight-pack part of public discourse.

Currently negotiating: The purchase of a housing society in Santa Cruz, Mumbai.

Big surprise: That he hasn’t signed on anything after Raju Hirani’s forthcoming film 3 Idiots and has only a cameo as a painter in wife Kiran Rao’s experimental film Dhobi Ghat.

Idea of extravagance: Gifting a 7-Series BMW to his nephew after the release of his movie and hiring a helicopter to make it to his wedding anniversary.

17. J.P. GAUR, 78, INDUSTRIALIST BUSINESS AS UNUSUAL

Because the Jaypee Group’s ambitious Ganga Express-way project across 14 districts of Uttar Pradesh will benefit at least 20 million people.

Because it became India’s largest private hydropower producer with the commissioning of the 400 MW Vishnu Prayag station and doubled its cement production capacity from nine million tonnes to 18 million tonnes per year.

J.P. Gaur

Because with power, cement, infrastructure, hospitality, real estate and education, the Rs 5,500-crore Jaypee Associates has a foothold in 14 states and is the only group in the country that successfully completed two power projects in Jammu & Kashmir in the last decade—Dulhasti and Baglihar.

Because he has a great equation with the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

The turning point: The death of his elder brother in 1946 in an accident. Gaur says it changed his life, making him a man of steel. He says he has not cried since.

Real estate watch: A township developed by the Group at Patiali in Etah district, Uttar Pradesh, over a 12-year period, at an investment of Rs 25,000 crore. Says it will be bigger than Chandigarh city.

18. HARISH SALVE, 53, THE ARGUMENTATIVE INDIAN

Harish Salve

Because everyone who is in trouble or who believes he could be in trouble wants him in their corner, whether it is arch-rivals Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati or longtime foes Lalit Modi and Subhash Chandra.

Because there is hardly any corporate case that he is not arguing and hardly any politician who hasn’t sought his advice.

Because he usually wins the cases he fights.

What excites him: Taking on a former Pakistani minister in a television debate or arguing against OBC reservation in Central government educational institutions. When Salve talks, people usually listen.

Big acquisition: A 7-series BMW, breaking his promise to himself that he would “behave”.

Nice guy move: Every evening he helps his wife Meenakshi set up a stained-glass showroom by typing emails and suggesting marketing strategies. As he quips, “it’s from maximum wages to minimum in the evenings”.

19. AMITABH BACHCHAN, 66, ACTOR I AM LEGEND

Amitabh Bachchan

Because a chance remark from him on his blog about Slumdog Millionaire can set off a global controversy.

Because he is an easy target for marginal politicians like Raj Thackeray, looking to establish his political party.

Because after 40 years in the profession, he still remains at the top of the game, and is head of a family that includes an articulate Rajya Sabha MP, an actor who works with the best directors in the business, and another actor who is India’s best-known international beauty.

Because the family endorses as many as 10 brands combined and whatever he does sets off a trend, whether it is blogging or walking the red carpet to support his children, be it for Pink Panther 2 or Delhi-6.

Favourite pastime: Posting blogs that he discusses at times with his family.

Embarrassing moment: Walking away from Rekha at an awards show when it looked like she was going to kiss him next.

20. RONNIE SCREWVALA, 51, MEDIA BARON ALL THE RIGHT MOVES

Ronnie Screwvala

Because he is now Disney’s point man in India, with one of the world’s most powerful empires acquiring a 60 per cent stake in UTV Software and 37.29 per cent in UTV Group.

Because UTV’s presence now spans a world movies channel to a business news network, gaming to the Internet, and the group has emerged as a global business, with 200 of its 1,000 employees based overseas.

Because UTV has shown an unusual flourish in backing sensible cinema, from the edgy terror thriller A Wednesday to the cult youth film Dev D.

Acquisition: A third gaming company and a dream home in Breach Candy that he and his wife worked on for five years.

Is reading:Billion-Dollar Lessons by Paul B. Carroll and a lot of scripts.